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How many caharacters do you intend t kill off?

in my historical fantasynovel, I have eight rounded characters, includig the main character.

I only intend to kill one character off, as I will use the other characters in subsequent novels.

How many of your original charactes will you use in further novels?

Asked by: Adrian Sroka

  1. Victoria Whithear on September 8, 2012

    Welcome back!

    I seem to have at least one death per book in my series but they are mainly elderly characters at the end of their lives. I do have one really gory death in book three and she is the girlfriend of one of the main characters, but not someone who had much of a role in the storyline. I don't cull any of the ones I call 'the resident family' until the last book and by then age is a significant factor.

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  2. Adrian Sroka on September 8, 2012

    Thank you, Victoria, it's good to be back. My account works on 64bit Internet Explorer, but no longer on Mozilla Firefox.

    Back on subject.

    The time invested in rounded-characters should guarantee their longevity. Good characters are pure gold. They are worth keeping.

  3. Mark Rudd on September 8, 2012

    I have two MCs who effectively take turns as POV characters over the course of the series, with a cast of other characters to pick from as support. After glancing over my first book I was quite shocked at realising how bloodthirsty I am... the supporting cast drop like flies!
    But the most important thing is that they all die for a reason (except one cold-blooded murder) which will have a profound effect on the MCs in later life. I have no time for the off-hand slaughter of, say, A Game of Thrones, or the blockbuster deaths that leave no effect whatsoever on the story. Death should never be gratuitous.

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  4. Jonathan Hopkins on September 8, 2012

    I decided to kill an important, though secondary, character off in my fourth story then spent ages trying to re-jig the outline so he could live.

    Unfortunately his death is so critical to three or four plotlines he has to go.

    Sorry, Major Hughes :(

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  5. Antoinette Adams on September 8, 2012

    In my first book four characters have died and three of them are major plots points so sadly I can't go back and save them, but one I can if I can think of a good reason to save him, but due to how he dies, I don't see him living right now.

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